Student Life @ SHU

ANOTHER Sacred Heart University Concert!

So the Fray was AWESOME on Wednesday night. We were setting up all day and some of the members of the Fray would just walk in, look around, walk out like it was nothing. It was cool to see that they were nice guys. I think some musicians can forget about where they came from and get so star-struck that they lose touch with reality. They seemed like they were just trying to live their lives like normal, or at least as normal as possible while living off a tour bus. One went to the diner alone, another found a quiet spot to write music, one went horseback riding nearby and the last member spent some time at the gym. The stage and lighting looked so good when setup was all done. When the house lights went off and the stage lighting came on it didnt even feel like you were in an athletic center. Crowd turnout was really good. We sold about 3,000 tickets and I think everyone had a really good time.
Now we have Maroon 5 ticket sales on Monday! From one concert to the next! We're not ones to waste time and that's a really good thing when it comes to campus life! That's my post for now. There's more to talk about the Fray and the new chapel is now open starting sunday. As always if you have any questions or topics you want me to write about from an inside perspective just post them here!

Shane
www.sacredheart.edu

Hottest Concert Around - THE FRAY - @ Sacred Heart University

I know I mentioned it before but I wanted to make sure you all got your tickets to The Fray here at Sacred Heart University on Wednesday, September 23rd at 8PM in the Pitt Center! You can cal or go online for tickets: 203-371-7846 or www.SHUTickets.com 
Tickets are flying so make sure get them right away!

The Fray at Sacred Heart University
www.sacredheart.edu

The Fray @ SHU!!!

YUP - you read it right! The Fray is coming to Sacred Heart University September 23rd! You may have already seen it announced on the SHU homepage or even on The Fray's website, but regardless of your sources, it's awesome. C'mon... one of the hottest bands right now is coming to Sacred Heart. You can't deny how great that is. Ok, Ok so not everyone might be a fan of The Fray but we try and get what the most amount of people will like. Not to say that we don't have a mix of artists that come, because we definitely do. I mean, last Spring we had 50 cent. I mean those two don't even come close in comparison.

I have to say that the whole Student Activities crew does a great job at keeping options open for the students as far as entertainment goes. It's pretty rare that there be nothing happening on any given weekend (and at least a few nights during the week). I've been to a bunch of my friends campuses and the biggest difference was the amount of student involvement and student activities campus wide. I've mentioned before that the biggest mistake to make on any college campus is not getting involved. Whatever school you go to is going to become like a second home to you. Yea, it's a place that you're going to be doing work but it's also a place where you're going to have a blast and meet a ton of new people; some of which will be your closest friends, maybe for the rest of your life. You're only missing out if you don't take advantage of everything college has to offer!

Comments/Questions/Whatever...Post it!

-Shane

www.sacredheart.edu

To the incoming freshman...

Maybe everyone else realized this before I did, but pre-season students start arriving in a week. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?! Didn't summer just start? Didn't it just get warm? (Actually it did just get warm.) Anyway, for all the nervous incoming freshman... relax. You might be thinking how you've never been away from home before, or how you need to make as many friends as possible in the first few days, or any number of things that might be circling in your mind. Most of us have been there, me being the first to admit it. I know it may be easier said than done but just relax. You're one of 900 students that are all going through the exact same thing. There are obviously going to be the students who are excited to get away from home, or who's parents may not cook great food all the time that they'll miss, or some that are just excited in general to start something new, and that's great! But either way it's an awesome ride you're about to go on and if you don't try and enjoy it you're going to miss the best parts. What are the best parts? Well it wouldn't be as great if you didn't find out for yourself. Best suggestion? Get involved! Not all of it will just fall in your plate. You need to go after it....

Questions? Post them or send a message!

Shane

www.sacredheart.edu

Happy Birthday Colleen!

So I didn't get a chance to post yesterday on the actual birthday of my fellow graduate assistant, Colleenbut hey better late than never right? Colleen is the new graduate assistant in Student Activities, as I think I mentioned in a previous post. Unfortunately we weren't too quick to grab the camera while we were celebrating yesterday BUT... remember how we got Rob the pink whale cake a couple weeks ago? Well, apparently Carvel won't make a field hockey stick cake (whatever carvel) so basically I got the strangest looking cake I could find in the store which turned out to be this clown face. Personally, I hate clowns so it looked semi-creepy to me but it was pretty funny and delicious like all carvel cakes usually are. Of course no cake would be complete without a million candles and I also stuck in little posts with pictures of our heads cut out of everyone in the office. It was pretty funny. So here's a picture from Orientation of me and Colleen...
 

I tried posting about The Fray who is coming our way this September but my computer was not having it. I'll try it again in my next post!

Just reply to a post with any questions or send them over. I'm always looking for new things to write about!

Shane

www.sacredheart.edu

It's July already???

So yesterday I must have jinxedthe weather saying how nice it was. It's July 1st today and the clouds are back. What is going on?! Well... I guess we're being "green" since we're not using that much energy for air conditioning!

So today is Rob's 20th birthday! Rob is the Orientation Chair this year. Basically he works his butt off to make Orientation a good time all around and he's done a great job. So we wanted to do something special today for him. Welllllllll, let's just say Rob likes Vineyard Vines clothes a lot. I mean, c'mon... they do make a great polo. Anyways, if you don't know this, the Vineyard Vines logo is a pink whale. Soooooooo......
 
I mean a pink whale cake seemed perfect to me. Happy 20th Rob!

In case you're wondering that's Rob on the far right, me on the far left, and Colleen in the middle. She's in a perfect spot in this picture because all day long she's stuck between me and Rob acting like fools and torturing each other. The Graduate Assistant position I now have was Colleen's for the last two years actually. Thankfully she's only going to the other side of the office to become the new Graduate Assistant of Student Activities. If you're coming here in the fall you'll get to know her very well through the many events she will be involved in all over campus. Don't let her smile deceive you... she's just as much a part of the day to day torturing as Rob and I are! We may do a lot in our office but we have a good time doing it!

Oh by the way... We just announced that we got the Fray for our Spring Concert this September! So stoked!!! More details in the oncoming posts...

-Shane

www.sacredheart.edu

The SUN! Finally!

What's better than warm weather on a sunny day? It's hard to not be in a good mood when the weather is so awesome!

So it's been a while since I last blogged so I apologize for that. A lot has changed since I last posted. I changed jobs from the Information Technology job to the new Graduate Assistant in the SHU Student Life Office! Not going to lie... it's pretty awesome. Orientation was pure insanity in such a great way. It totally brought me back to my orientation before the start of freshman year. It seems like yesterday I was worried about what ice breakers we were going to do now. While they may have been a little awkward at times the best part was that it was something you and your orientation group had in common. If nothing else it was something to talk about with some new friends.

While the campus is pretty quiet right now with all the Undergrads home for the summer, we're busy getting ready for the academic year. Welcome Week 2009 is going to be so sick! I'm not ashamed to admit that while it's for the incoming freshman I was a little jealous as an upper classman. Dork? Maybe. It's a really good time though.

Back to more planning! Keep the questions coming.........................

Shane

The Economy... The Opinions... One for the books

No, I'm not going to talk about Fannie and Freddie or the rising dept of our country (although I suppose I just did). In class the other night my professor spoke about current MBA enrollment specifically, but graduate school enrollment in general. It is obvious that in this economy it is much better to be in school than out searching for a job. This seems to have increased the amount of applications submitted for grad schools all over the country. The amount of students that have recently come to grad school immediately after graduation has dramatically increased, myself included. Personally, I don't think this is a bad thing. It seems like a smart decision to increase your educational knowledge rather than sit home frustrated from job rejection. The value of our education, however, is was upset most of the class. In this professors opinion, going straight to school after graduation (at least for business majors) was not the smartest decision. His reasoning was that without work experience and having a graduate degree, applicants look more expensive to company's but not more experienced. As most of the class started to worry what time the liquor store closed after having this conversation, I have to say that I disagree. It's a valid opinion of my professor, which I respect. However, most students in the graduate program have, at the very least, the occasional internship. As I've mentioned before, I work about 30 hours a week for a company where I have an internship. I feel lucky enough that they let me work a little bit in all the departments, ranging from Marketing to IT, and I like it. Graduate school is a lot of work, yes. Going to grad school full-time makes it nearly impossible to work full-time too; any admissions counselor will tell you this. However, it is also not an extension to undergrad, which I admit may have been in the back of my mind when I first started the program. You should probably get some work experience while taking classes, even if it's only one or two days a week. This way you continue building your resume while adding to your list of degrees. It's not only beneficial for your future, but helps write the many papers assigned by adding your input and personal experiences.

Got a topic you want to hear more about? Send it over...

Balance

Hey guys,
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while but I'm back now. Ok, so I wanted to talk about what I feel is the hardest part of grad school. Balance. I've told you before I am a full-time grad student. I also work as an intern with hours, on average, of about 30 per week. It's mostly for the experience and maybe partly because of the economic state. Let's face it - school isn't cheap.
Anyway, grad school is a lot of work. If you're looking to go full-time then you will either have to be good at balancing or learn how to balance. I'm still learning so I'd say i'm somewhere in the middle; on the learning curve, perhaps. So far, grad school courses seem to revolve around reading and writing papers. A lot of analysis; a lot of case studies. As far as class discussion goes it is much more depended upon. If your undergrad classes were more lecture based and you are used to sitting through class like a drone looking at the board, well... you're in for a surprise. Grad school is partially about learning from your peers. Students share their own experiences and the class may discuss them. It really has to do with how much you put into that determines how much you get out of it. It's definitely worth it though. Personally, I'd rather learn through experiences than from a textbook.

Have questions? I'll be sure to answer them...

Tests? What tests?

So through my experience the past few months of grad school I've realized there are few "tests" than undergrad. Most of my friends had told me about this, but I didn't believe it. No tests? Sounds amazing! While it is nice not to be tested on the spot watching the clock to see how much time you have left to fill the rest of your Scan-tron, the lack is made up for in other ways. Mainly, all class grades revolve around a few presentations and many papers. If you're good at writing papers and don't mind presentations, you've got your bases covered. For others, it will require a bit more effort. Myself, I don't mind presentations but writing a paper... let's just say it's not one of my strong points. The good thing is that you have a bit more flexibility with your answers rather than having A, B, C or D to choose from. In my own opinion, while writing a paper is not my best attribute, I still like it much better than having a test shoved in front of me. For some, presentations make them nervous. However, the whole class is able to learn about a variety of topics and, in doing so, class discussion is stimulated further. I'm not a fan of classes that surround everything in the textbook. To me, learning is best through sharing experiences and that's really the side graduate school leans toward.

Questions? Write!